Rebirth of Le Provençal 2025 - Once upon a time, Le Provençal 1927.......
The rebirth of an iconic Art Deco building in Juan les Pins is about to be completed, after many years of important works, including structural reinforcements, by British luxury developer John Caudwell, who sold his mobile phone empire (Phones 4u) before developing luxury properties. Mr. Caudwell, born in Birmingham in 1952, is also known in the UK for his charity, particularly dedicated to ill and disabled children.
Le Provençal, Juan les Pins, overlooking the picture-perfect Golfe Juan and the Estérel Mountains
If the exterior walls have been preserved and carefully restored to their glory from the Roaring Twenties, the inside of the tall building is now home to 41 high-end residences, retail boutiques, a one-of-a-kind “Michelin quality” restaurant and beautiful health spa, surrounded by landscaped gardens and a 30m pool. Among Mr. Caudwell’s most ambitious residential developments, 1 Mayfair, in London’s Mayfair district, currently under construction.
A mix of Art Deco and "neo-Provençal", typical of the 1920's on the French Riviera…
But what was this legendary building before?
LE PROVENCAL - 1927
Frank Jay Gould by Jean-Gabriel Domergue
Frank Jay Gould (1877-1956) was one of the six children of “Robber Baron” Jason (“Jay”) Gould, the American railroad tycoon, one of the richest Americans in history, who controlled, in the late 1870s, several American railroads (Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific Railroad, etc.), about 10,000 miles of railway.
Frank Jay Gould was the millionaire who put Juan les Pins on the map in 1927 when he became associate with the local French businessman Edouard Baudoin, who wanted to create a summer season in this part of the Riviera after seeing, in a theatre, images of a crowded beach in Miami in the summer. They revamped the city’s small casino and built a large hotel, Le Provencal, which was to become one of the best luxury hotels in Europe, with a private bathroom and a new piece of soap for each guest. The landmark Art Déco hotel was closed in 1976…
Gould certainly was the first international casino developer, before Steve Wynn, Sheldon Adelson and Sol Kerzner. In 1929, he built the one-of-a-kind Art Déco casino, the Palais de la Méditerranée, on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, certainly the most important American investment on the Riviera at that time.
In Juan les Pins, the seaside Pinède, the pine-shaded square where the International Jazz Festival, “Jazz à Juan”, has taken place for more than 50 years, was named after him: La Pinède Gould.
Florence Gould by Jean-Gabriel Domergue
His wife, Florence Gould (1895-1983), was the daughter of a Frenchman, Maximilien La Caze, who emigrated to San Francisco, CA, and became a wealthy publisher. She introduced water-skiing on the French Riviera and became a famous patron of the arts (Florence Gould Hall in New York, Florence Gould Theater in San Francisco). She is also credited with the launch of the fashion of wearing pajamas during the day.
In the 1920s, the couple bought a very Gothic waterfront villa built in 1912, La Vigie, which can still be seen close to the Belles Rives Hotel in Juan les Pins, and which they adorned with their collection of Impressionist paintings. Florence received many artists here, including French music-hall stars Maurice Chevalier and Mistinguett, who owned villas nearby. The Goulds are both buried in the impressive Greek temple like family mausoleum in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx County, Bronx, NY.
Note: Lucien Stable, the local architect who built Le Provençal, is also the author of La Vigie, and another villa, Dilecta, Cap d’Antibes...
